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Record first-half sales for Samsonite International

Luggage company Samsonite International had record half-year net sales of US$1.5 billion, a year-on-year increase of 31.8 per cent.

Its acquisition of the Tumi brand had “significant” positive impact on its performance in Asia, reports the company, announcing its interim results.

Samsonite assumed direct control of Tumi distribution in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, South Korea and Thailand. It also added 37 Tumi stores worldwide. As a result, the brand had net sales of $296.9 million for the six months.Excluding amounts attributable to the Tumi business, the group posted 7.5 per cent net sales growth. Net sales of the Samsonite brand grew by 7 per cent, and for American Tourister by 1.3 per cent.

Also acquired, in May, was eBags, for a cash consideration of $105 million. The company says this significantly strengthens its platform to accelerate the growth of its direct-to-consumer e-commerce business.

Already this grew 89 per cent during the first half (20.2 per cent excluding Tumi), driven by a 126.7 per cent increase in net sales, partly as a result of acquiring eBags.

Net sales in Asia reached $563.3 million for the group, an increase of 19.8 per cent. Excluding Tumi, the increase was 3.8 per cent.

Japan had 53.4 per cent net sales growth. Excluding Tumi, this was a 12.8 per cent increase, driven by the American Tourister, Gregory and Samsonite brands.

China’s net sales grew 11.2 per cent, or 8.8 per cent with Tumi excluded. This was attributed to a strong performance from the Samsonite brand.

Net sales in South Korea were up 18.1 per cent, but would have been down 1.6 per cent without Tumi. This was because of fewer shoppers from China and weak consumer sentiment.

Hong Kong’s net sales soared 97 per cent, driven by the addition of Tumi. Otherwise there would have been a 1.7 per cent decrease because of fewer Mainland China visitors. This compares with the 7.4 per cent decline in the second half of last year and the 15.6 per cent drop in the first half.

Driven by the Kamiliant and Samsonite brands, net sales in India grew by 1.9 per cent. However, there was a temporary disruption in the second quarter because of a goods-and-services tax taking effect.

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